The Cozy Mystery List Blog

Cozy Mystery (and Other Favorite) Books, Movies, and TV

Mystery Books with Men as Sleuths – Male Amateur Sleuths, That Is

There is one place that I can name where “Equal rights for women.” has been taken very seriously, and that is in the amateur sleuth mystery book realm. Let’s face it, men simply are a very tiny, itsy-bitsy minority in the amateur sleuth world!

I have received several letters from people asking that I include this theme. The latest letter is from Carla:

“I was wondering if you could add another theme to your list.  It is very hard to find cozy mysteries with male protagonists.   It seems that mysteries with male detectives seem to be more procedurals and have a harder edge.  I prefer cozy mysteries with amateur detectives.”

Men as Amateur Sleuths in Cozy Mystery Series:

Peter Abresch: James P. Dandy Elderhostel Mystery Series (ex-physical therapist)

Bruce Alexander (aka Bruce Cook): Sir John Fielding Mystery Series (18th century judge)

Jeffrey Allen (aka Jeff Shelby): Stay at Home Dead (stay-at-home dad)

Margery Allingham: Albert Campion Mystery Series (semi nobility)

L.L. Bartlett (aka Lorna Barrett & Lorraine Bartlett: Jeff Resnick Mystery Series

Mike Befeler: Paul Jacobson Geezer Lit Mystery Series (octogenarian)

Lilian Jackson Braun: The Cat Who Mystery Series (journalist)

Simon Brett: Charles Paris Mystery Series (actor)

C. S. Challinor: Rex Graves Mystery Series (Scottish barrister)

G. K. Chesterton: Father Brown Mystery Series (British priest)

Jeffrey Cohen (aka E. J. Copperman): Aaron Tucker Mystery Series (stay-at-home dad)

Jeffrey Cohen (aka E. J. Copperman): Double Feature Mystery Series (owner of a theater)

Edmund Crispin: Gervaise Fen Mystery Series (Oxford professor)

Lindsey Davis: Marcus Didius Falco Mystery Series (ancient Roman detective)

Aaron Elkins: Gideon Oliver Mystery Series (professor of Anthropology)

Janet Gleeson: The Grenadillo Box (journeyman carpenter)

Lee Goldberg: Diagnosis Murder Mystery Series (doctor)

Jane Haddam: Gregor Demarkian Mystery Series (retired FBI agent)

The Hardy Boys: Credited under Franklin W. Dixon, but written by many ghost authors

Edward D. Hoch: Dr. Sam Hawthorn Mystery Series (country doctor)

Victoria Houston: Loon Lake Fishing Mystery Series (retired dentist)

Miranda James (aka Honor Hartman, Jimmie Ruth Evans, & Dean James):  Cat in the Stacks Mystery Series (librarian)

Harry Kemelman: Rabbi Small Mystery Series (rabbi)

John J. Lamb: Bear Collectors’ Mystery Series (retired police detective)

Jane Langton: Homer Kelly Mystery Series (professor)

Peter Lovesey: Bertie, Prince of Wales Mystery Series

Charlotte MacLeod (aka Alisa Craig): Peter Shandy Mystery Series (professor)

Charlotte MacLeod (aka Alisa Craig):  Sarah Kelling Mystery Series (Max Bittersohn)

Deborah Morgan: Antique Lovers’ Mystery Series (antiques dealer)

Tim Myers  (aka Elizabeth Bright, Melissa Glazer, Chris Cavender, & Casey Mayes): Lighthouse Inn Mystery Series (lighthouse inn keeper) & Soapmaking Mystery Series & Candlemaking Mystery Series

Robin Paige (aka Susan Wittig Albert and husband Bill Albert): Kate Ardleigh Sheridan & Sir Charles Sheridan Mystery Series (Victorian, nobility)

Hugh Pentecost: Pierre Chambrun Mystery Series (hotel manager)

Ellis Peters: Brother Cadfael Mystery Series (Medieval herbalist monk)

Ellery Queen: Ellery Queen Mystery Series (mystery author)

David Roberts: Lord Edward Corinth Mystery Series (nobility)

Sax Rohmer: Fu Manchu Mystery Series

Sapper: Bulldog Drummond Mystery Series

Dorothy L. Sayers: Lord Peter Wimsey Mystery Series (nobility)

Steven Saylor: Roma Sub Rosa Mystery Series (one century B.C. Roman investigator)

Malcolm Shuman: Alan Graham Mystery Series

J. B. Stanley (aka Jennifer Stanley, Ellery Adams, & 1/2 of Lucy Arlington): Supper Club Mystery Series (“retired” professor, librarian)

Dornford Yates: Chandos Mystery Series

Margaret Yorke: Dr. Patrick Grant Mystery Series (professor)

Sherban Young: Stand Alones

If you know of any other Men as Amateur Sleuths in Cozy Mystery Series, please post a comment. Thank you!

***To access more Cozy Mysteries by Theme click on this link.***

TNT’s The Closer Is Back!

This is just a quick note to remind you all that TNT’s The Closer returned to television on Monday night. As most of you know, it is The Closer’s last season. (I wrote about The Closer before, and it continues to be one of my favorite television shows.)

The Closer has followed Deputy Police Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson (Kyra Sedgwick) as she “closed” more cases for the L.A.P.D. than probably any other reigning police chief. Of course, she did this by using techniques that were more commonly practiced back in the 1950s and 1960s, than are allowed these days.

“Say it ain’t so!”>>> but it is! This is the final season for The Closer, but there is some good news at the end of this rainbow: In August, there will be a new show on the horizon: Major Crimes. Heading to the Major Crimes line-up will be Mary McDonnell (Capt. Sharon Raydor). And, even better news, some of The Closer’s other cast members will be following McDonnell to the Major Crimes unit.

I have a few characters who I definitely want to continue seeing… unfortunately, they include ALL of the major players from The Closer:

Lt. Provenza (G. W. Bailey)
Lt. Andy Flynn (Tony Denison)
Detective Sgt. David Gabriel (Corey Reynolds)
Detective Julio Sanchez (Raymond Cruz)
Lt. Mike Tao (Michael Paul Chan)
Technician Buzz Watson (Phillip P. Keene)
Asst. Police Chief Will Pope (J. K. Simmons)
FBI agent Fritz Howard (Jon Tenney)
Commander Taylor (Robert Gossett)

In case you missed Monday night’s debut of The Closer‘s final season, the episode is called “Hostile Witness“, and it will re-air this Saturday morning (July 14, 2012) at 10:00 AM (central) and again on this coming Monday night (July 16, 2012) at 7:00 PM (central) on TNT.

I am truly sorry to see this show leave TNT’s line-up, and hope that Major Crimes will continue to have the same great writers associated with it, and of course, the same wonderful actors we have all grown to love.

August 2012 Mystery Book New Releases

The following Mystery Books will be released in August 2012:

Sarah Andrews: Rock Bottom (This will be the 11th in the Em Hansen Mystery Series.)

Connie Archer: A Spoonful of Murder (This will be the 1st in the NEW Soup Lover’s Mystery Series.)

Jessica Beck: Powdered Peril (This will be the 8th in the Donut Shop Mystery Series.)

Heather Blake (aka Heather Webber) A Witch before Dying (This will be the 2nd in the Witchcraft Mystery Series)

Rita Mae Brown: Sneaky Pie for President (This will be the 21st in the Mrs. Murphy Mystery Series.)

Nancy Bush: Nowhere To Run (This will be a Stand Alone.)

Kate Carlisle: Peril in Paperback (This will be the 6th in the Bibliophile Mystery Series.)

Judy Clemens: Dying Echo (This will be the 4th in the Grim Reaper Mystery Series.)

Barbara Cleverly: Not My Blood (This will be the 10th in the Joe Sandilands Mystery Series.)

Peg Cochran (aka Meg London): Allergic to Death (This will be the 1st in the NEW Gourmet De-Lite Msytery Series.)

Sheila Connolly (aka Sarah Atwell): Sour Apples (This will be the 6th in the Orchard Mystery Series.)

Cleo Coyle (aka Alice Kimberly): A Brew to a Kill (This will be the 11th in the Coffeehouse Mystery Series.)

Bill Crider: Murder of a Beauty Shop Queen (This will be the 19th in the Dan Rhodes Mystery Series.)

Carol Culver (aka Grace Carroll): Never Say Pie (This will be the 2nd in the Pie Shop Mystery Series.)

Carole Nelson Douglas: Cat in a White Tie and Tails (This will be the 24th in the Midnight Louie Mystery Series.)

Kaitlyn Dunnett (aka Kathy Lynn Emerson): Bagpipes, Brides, and Homicides (This will be the 6th in the Liss MacCrimmon Mystery Series.) (Actually, July 31)

Anthea Fraser: A Question of Identity (This will be the 8th in the Rona Parish Mystery Series.)

Jeanne Glidewell: Haunted (This will be the 3rd in the Lexie Starr Mystery Series.) (This will be a Halloween theme mystery.)

William Kent Krueger: Trickster’s Point (This will be the 12th in the Cork O’Connor Mystery Series.)

Laura Levine: Death of A Neighborhood Witch (This will be the 11th in the Jaine Austen Mystery Series.) (This will be a Halloween theme mystery.)

Laura Lippman: And When She Was Good (This will be a Stand Alone.)

Virginia Lowell: When the Cookie Crumbles (This will be the 3rd in the Cookie Cutter Shop Mystery Series.)

Nancy Martin: No Way to Kill a Lady (This will be the 8th in the Blackbird Sisters Mystery Series.)

Louise Penny: The Beautiful Mystery (This will be the 8th in the Chief Inspector Gamache Mystery Series.)

Kathy Reichs: Bones Are Forever (This will be the 15th in the Temperance Brennan Mystery Series.)

Ruth Rendell (aka Barbara Vine): The St. Zita Society (This will be a Stand Alone.)

Maggie Sefton: Deadly Politics (This will be the 1st in the NEW Molly Malone Mystery Series.)

Joanna Campbell Slan: Death of a Schoolgirl (This will be the 1st in the NEW Jane Eyre Chronicles Mystery Series.)

Melinda Wells (aka Linda Palmer): Seven-Layer Death (This will be the 5th in the Della Cooks Mystery Series.)

To go back to the Cozy Mystery New Book Release page, click here.

PBS Masterpiece Mystery – Inspector Lewis Series V, Starts This Weekend

It’s time, once again, to set up your favorite mode of taping. Either that, or be sure to be sitting in front of your television set, with your popcorn already popped, tomorrow night.

Your local PBS stations should be starting Series V of the Inspector Lewis episodes on Sunday, July 8, 2012. Inspector Lewis (Kevin Whately) and his trusty sidekick Detective Sergeant Hathaway (Laurence Fox) will be back solving crimes for four consecutive Sunday nights.

Inspector Lewis, Series V:

The Soul of Genius – July 8, 2012
Generation of Vipers – July 15, 2012
Fearful Symmetry – July 22, 2012
The Indelible Stain – July 29, 2012

And, for those of you who may have missed a few of the Inspector Lewis shows from Series IV, they will be re-airing two of the shows:

The Mind Has Mountains – Aug. 26, 2012
The Gift of Promise – Sept. 2, 2012

So, go get your taping machines ready!

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